Fender



R. GOLPHIN A ril 27, 1937.

FENDER Filed Jan. 29, 1956 K INVENTOR Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in fenders for automobiles,trucks or busses.

The principal feature resides in the provision of a fender which, by itsdeflecting action, will minimize the damage caused when the fenderstrikes or is struck by another object.

Another feature consists in merging the improved fender constructionwith the front and rear ends of an automobile or other vehicle body insuch manner as to provide an attractive stream-line effect.

A further feature consists in designing the improved fender constructionso that, in the case of an automobile, it provides a stream-line effectat the front and back which enables the automobile to be handled tobetter advantage in heavy trafiic or when parking in a narrow space.Where the stream-line effect is resorted to solely for safety ordeflecting purposes it need only 20 be provided at the front of theautomobile Proceeding now to a more detailed description reference willbe had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of an automobile 25 equipped with front and back fenders designedin accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the automobile appearing in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view showing a slight 30 modification with respectto the shape of the bumper bars forming part of the improved fenderconstruction.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through one of the bumper bars, showing themanner in which a flap extension hinged to the bumper bar is secured ina raised or inoperative position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 5 designates an automobileequipped at the front and rear with my improved fenders generallyindicated at l and 8. Each fender comprises a V or wedge-shaped sheetmetal structure 9 presenting inclined sides I and H. The front fender iis preferably formed as an integral extension merging with the hoodportion of the body to produce the stream-line effect shown in Figs. 1and 2. A similar stream-line effect is obtained at the rear of theautomobile by making the fender 8 as an integral continuation of therear wall of the body.

The sloping sides i0 and II of each fender are preferably set at anangle of approximately 90 with respect to each other so that thedeflecting action of these sides will tend to considerably diminish thedamage resulting from collisions.

The lower edge of each fender is guarded by a V-shaped bumper bar 12presenting side arms l3 and I 4 which are preferably set at an angle ofapproximately with respect to each other. The apices of the bumper barsl2 are secured to the apices I5 of the fenders 'I and 8 in any suitablemanner that will permit the side arms l3 and H of the bumper bars tomove toward the inclined fender surfaces l0 and II when struck by anobject. The free ends of the arms l3 and I 4 are normally held away fromthe fender surfaces lll and H by means of suitable springs l6 and I1which, in the present instance, comprise curved strips of springy sheetmetal. It will be apparent, however, that the springs l6 and I1 may bereplaced by coil springs, rubber blocks or other forms of cushioningelements.

In the present. instance each bumper bar l2 has been shown as aone-piece V-shaped bar made of spring steel and having a slight radiusor curvature at the juncture of the arms l3 and I4. It will beunderstood, however, that the arms of each bar may be made as separateelements having their inner ends hingedly connected at the apex of thefender structure with which the bars are associated. It is alsopreferred to provide the arms l3 and I 4 of each bumper bar withdepending flap extensions l8 hinged thereto as indicated at i9. Thehinge connections are preferably made so that the flap extensions areprevented from swinging inwardly out of vertical alignment with arms 5 3and H but are capable of being swung outwardly and upwardly toinoperative positions against the front surfaces of said arms.

When disposed in the position shown in Fig. 1 each flap extension 88 isheld from swinging outwardly by the lower end of'aflexible spring strip20 which is secured in a suitable bracket 2| carried by the bumper barto which the flap extension is hinged. The upper end of the spring strip28 is bent to provide a hook 22 by means of which the flap extension maybe held in an upwardly swung or inoperative position as shown in Fig. 4.As shown in Fig. 3 each of the bumper bars may be provided withlongitudinal corrugations 23 which are efi'ective to resist the tendencyof the front end of the auto- I mobile to climb in the case of a head-oncollision. If the collision is between two cars equipped with thesecorrugated bumper bars the bars of r one car will tend to interlock withthose on the other car to prevent the aforesaid climbing.

When equipp d with fenders and bumper bars designed in accordance withthis invention there is less danger of an automobile being badly rwrecked by colliding with a post or tree since the inclined sides of thetenders and bumper bars will cause the automobile to glide to one sideor the other. In the case of a head-on collision between two automobilesthe deflecting action due to the V-contour oi the bumper bars andIcnders will cause the automobiles to glide apart without causing agreat deal of damage. Also, when the automobile strikes a pedestrian the10 blow will be a glancing one due to the V-contour of the bumper barsand fenders. If the person struck should happen to be-knocked down he orshe will be pushed 'to one side by one or the other of the inclined flapextensions I8.

15 A further advantage of the present invention is that by reason of theV or pointed wedgeshape provided at the front and rear of the automobilethe latter may be parked in narrow spaces or handled in heavy traflicwith greater 20 case as compared with automobiles equipped with fendersor bumpers of known design.

From thev standpoint of safety, it is not absolutely essential that therear of the automobile body be stream-lined and provided with bumper 25bars as described herein. If desired, the back of the body may be ofconventional or any other desired construction.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:-

1. A tender of the character described comprising a V-shaped metalstructure, a, bumper bar resiliently supported in front of the loweredge portion of each inclined side of the structure and flap extensionshinged to the lower edge of the bumper bars.

2. A fender of the character described comprising a V-shaped metalstructure, a bumper bar resiliently supported in front of the lower edgeportion of each inclined side of the structure, and flap extensionshinged'to the lower edges of the bumper bars by hinge connectionspermitting said extensions to be swung to an inoperative positionagainst the front sides of the bumper bars and means for releasablysecuring said extensions in the last mentioned position.

3. A fender of the character described comprising a V-shaped metalstructure, a bumper bar resiliently supported on front of the lower edgeportion of each inclined side of the structure, and flap extensionshinged to the lower edges of said bumper bars, means normally holdingsaid extensions in alignment with the bumper bars, said means beingyieldable .to permit swinging of the extensions to an inoperativeposition against the front sides of the bumper bars, and. means forreleasably holding the extensions in the last mentioned position.

ROBERT GOLPHIN.

